"The most basic rule is that they're just a sentence or two, totalling 25 words or less. Less hard-and-fast - but equally vital - are a theme, plot, characters, and narrative development. Everything you'd see in any good story - but short enough to fit into the time it takes to reach the bottom of that bitter little cup, as you ponder on how even the briefest experiences can make life more meaningful." (You can read more at http://espressostories.com/.) Some of ours are admittedly a little long, but here are our collective attempts:
When Maria came back, the stain had moved to under the chair.
--
Their eyes met across the dusty road and with each step they took, another car blasted them apart.
--
Amy kicked back the last shot of alcohol, grimacing. The night was long, the party was far from over, and it was better for all involved if she spend it drunk.
--
Bridgette glanced awkward around the retirement center and held her breathe silently as they slowly shuffled past, vowing to kill herself before she got to this stage.
--
Roger knew then and there that he had never been so happy in his ninety-seven years as he had in that moment, Lois' age-spotted hand on his knee, asleep in her wheelchair parked by his bedside.
--
they didn't give her hair until they had to prepare her for the wake--twenty three hours after she stopped breathing, and twenty-three months after she stopped living.
--
"Nice cowboy hat, loser!" But Gary merely tipped his hat at the boys in the corner, winked, and kept dancing.
--
even as her last breathe was stolen by his magical lips the last thing he said was swallowed by the dirt as he hit the ground running.
--
The little girl swallowed the last of her cherry-flavored popsicle, absentmindedly chewing at the juice-stained stick as she sat in the back of the car, watching the hospital smear past the car window like fingerpaint. Today was a good day.
--Lynn, Patti, and Christie
When Maria came back, the stain had moved to under the chair.
--
She pushed each seed into the still-cold dirt, wondering how many more she had to plant before enough of them bloomed to choke the weeds out from her heart.
--
Their eyes met across the dusty road and with each step they took, another car blasted them apart.
--
Amy kicked back the last shot of alcohol, grimacing. The night was long, the party was far from over, and it was better for all involved if she spend it drunk.
--
Bridgette glanced awkward around the retirement center and held her breathe silently as they slowly shuffled past, vowing to kill herself before she got to this stage.
--
Roger knew then and there that he had never been so happy in his ninety-seven years as he had in that moment, Lois' age-spotted hand on his knee, asleep in her wheelchair parked by his bedside.
--
they didn't give her hair until they had to prepare her for the wake--twenty three hours after she stopped breathing, and twenty-three months after she stopped living.
--
"Nice cowboy hat, loser!" But Gary merely tipped his hat at the boys in the corner, winked, and kept dancing.
--
even as her last breathe was stolen by his magical lips the last thing he said was swallowed by the dirt as he hit the ground running.
--
The little girl swallowed the last of her cherry-flavored popsicle, absentmindedly chewing at the juice-stained stick as she sat in the back of the car, watching the hospital smear past the car window like fingerpaint. Today was a good day.
--Lynn, Patti, and Christie
Why am I never included in things.
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